Restaurant: Killer Noodle
Location: 2030 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Date: October 16, 23, 26 & 29, 2017 + about 15 other times!
Cuisine: Japanese Dan Dan Noodles
Rating: Tasty but highly specific
Tsujita is the king of Sawtelle ramen with three existing store fronts on the street, the original, annex, and their high end sushi joint.
Yesterday/today they just opened their newest venture in the old Bachi Burger space. Killer Noodle specializes in Tantanmen which is the sort of milder more approachable Japanese “adaption” of Chinese Dan Dan Mien. I love the original Chinese version and even make it myself.
All the Japanese vendors leave these flower arrangements to celebrate your opening.
They are quite lovely but a few of them are rotting in the former Ramen Roll space as I type — I’m not bitter, no no.
The outside menu. Yesterday Killer Noodle was giving away free bowls but today is the first (normal?) day and it was mostly full at 12:30-1ish but not quite. People probably don’t totally know it’s open yet but no crushing mob.
The interior is spacious and much more upscale from the other two noodle shops.
Attractive for sure and lots of space between tables. Small bar too.
Tasty looking spices make up the decoration behind the bar.
You can pick your spice level. I tried #3 normal. It wasn’t really spicy at all by my standards.
The simple focused menu. Don’t bring anyone here that doesn’t want spicy pork noodles — nothing else on the menu!
Because of the threat of spice I ordered this Japanese Yogu drink. Went well with the tan tan actually. Very Japanese. They have Asahi draft and that’s about it too. Tsujita is VERY minimalist.
Long after opening (second half of 2018) they added some buns like this spicy pork bun to the menu as cheap appetizers. I detested the slice of tomato and the slightly sweet, slightly spicy bun just didn’t do it for me. Stick to the noodles.
Side of Char sui pork. Same as at Tsujita LA, and just as good. They make a nice fatty pork. You stuff this in the noodles (below).
Shabu Shabu Pork. Boiled pork with green onions and a bit of soy and chili sauce. Nowhere near as good as the char sui — go for that instead.
Poached egg. What the Japanese call an Onsen style egg (boiled at low temp) rather than a proper marinated ramen egg (with gooey center). This is a very soft half cooked egg. Still good though. You crack it in your dish.
Now for the main events:
Tokyo style Tantanmen, wet. Here is the “signature” version, wet. The wet version uses thinner ramen noodles.
With pork and egg added. The Tokyo also has some sesame in it, but as far as I can tell no Szechuan broad beans, five spice, or pickled mustard greens like a real Dan Dan. The broth base is a mix of chicken stock and tonkotsu stock. Presumably the same or similar as a regular Tsujita ramen. It’s mildly spicy with the chili oil, very garlicky, and has a mild sesame taste. It was very tasty, and again much closer to a “spicy ramen” than a real dan dan. But that’s what tan tan is.
Tokyo style dry. This is a 10/26/17 level 5 with extra egg and pork. Tokyo is a touch nuttier, a touch less mala by default, but certainly not very different. So far, this is my favorite variant (and I’ve tried all the dry versions).
Mixed up. This is what you actually eat.
Downtown Style Tantamen, dry. The dry variant they claim is closer to the Chinese original, although I’m not sure I agree. This downtown one has cayenne and Szechuan peppercorn. It wasn’t very hot or particularly numbing at level 3. It was very tasty though. Tons of garlic. Ground pork. Definitely a more Japanese blend than a real Chinese one. This version doesn’t have the sesame (or at least not nearly as much). At a level 5 this packs a very potent chili wallop.
Fully dressed and ready to mix (photo from 10/23/17). This is actually a killer level 4 and you can see the increased Szechuan peppercorn dust on it.
The stirred up (but messy) dry style. Not totally dry obviously as the flavor is in the sauce. They use the same (as far as I can tell) thick Tsukemen noodles for the dry version.
The final flavor is “original style“, here shown “dry” level 3. “Original” here apparently means “novel” not the most “typical” tantanmen.
With the requisite $1.50 egg.
And all mixed up. This is BY FAR the most different of the 3. It’s got a sort of green/black pepper flavor and while it has plenty of heat is much more subtle and much less flavorful. Nice texture with the bean sprouts and tofu too. They give you lemon to add acid. Tasty and interesting, and almost “cooling” between bites of my level 5 “downtown”. But I wouldn’t crave it nearly as much.
Pork over rice bowl. This is tiny. It’s not a meal but an “extra”. You mix it up, but it has sour cream in there too along with chili sauce and ground pork. Makes for a weird mix.
Mapo ball. Why it’s called a ball, I have no idea. But the mapo is actually an excellent take on the Chinese classic. Not exactly totally Chinese, but super delicious with some real mala heat.
Overall, I’ll be back (many times) as this was a very tasty spicy ramen. I had the wet version the first time (Tokyo) and the dry version (Downtown) the second and a dry (Tokyo) the third and a dry (Downtown) and dry (Original) the fourth. To break down the styles: Tokyo is my favorite and has far more sesame nut flavor. Downtown is more straight chili, mala, and vinegar. Original has it’s unique bright green/black pepper flavors but is much more subdued flavor-wise and feels far less rich.
The thicker noodles are better and because of that I like the “dry.” But I found out you can order the thick noodles in a wet so I have to try that too.
I think Killer Noodle does an excellent job with Tantanmen — being the derived milder Japanese version of Dan Dan. That’s pretty much all they offer, even if there are a couple versions. It would be a weird place to bring a group because not EVERYONE wants a spicy ramen variant. But when you do, totally worth coming.
The first time I got a 3 heat level and that was relatively mild. The second a 4 and that was a big step up heat wise and had me sweating although it wasn’t tough to eat. I tried a 5 (on two different days) also and that was very hot. Certainly I could eat it, but I was really sweating. I’ve had the 6 twice too and it’s fabulous, but has “consequences.” 4 is probably the sweet spot going forward for most people although occasionally I feel like a 5 or 6. Definitely on my regular rotation for now – I go most weeks!
This isn’t for everyone, but if you like a LOT of flavor and spice, Killer Noodle is fabulous.
For more LA dining reviews click here.
Because of the heat we were bad and wet across the street to B-Sweet.
Glazed donut stuffed with taro (Ume) ice cream. Sweet and delicious.
Glazed donut bread pudding with cream-cheese sauce and ice cream. Oh yeah, sweet!
